Reflection
In this reflection, I will demonstrate why I have achieved each Course Learning Outcome with a abundant understanding of the rhetorical concepts. As well share my thoughts on the goals that I believe I have not achieved and what I feel isn’t my greatest strength.
- Explore and analyze, in writing and reading, a variety of genres and rhetorical situations.
In reading Howl by Allen Ginsberg, Citizen by Claudia Rankine, Signs Preceding The End Of The World by Yuri Herrera, and Excess – The Factory by Leslie Kaplan, I was able to analyze their separate intentions and to understand broader perspectives about the real world. Citizen by Claudia Rankine criticizes society for its racism and how it affects every aspect of living for black people which privileged white people don’t endure simply because of their skin color. While Signs Preceding the End of the World also deals with a marginalized group of people of color it also shines light on the harsh reality of migrating and the hardships immigrants face while on their journey and also arrival in the United States. Citizen was a cry for empathy, a cry to humanity to understand the pain of being black in a dominated white society. Signs Preceding the End of the World was an eye opener to how one can change simply from emerging into different places with different expectations, and how differently you’re treated. In Excess – The Factory it critics a capitalist society but not in regards to its racism or discrimination but more on its ideals and ways of life for its citizens. The workers in the factory are brutalized, stripped of any self identity except for bringing profit in and are taken away from ever living any sort of life for themselves.
- Develop strategies for reading, drafting, collaborating, revising, and editing.
To demonstrate Learning Outcome #2, which is that I have developed “reading, drafting, collaborating, revising, and editing,” I will include screenshots of my labor log which consists of revisions and editing I’ve done for past assignments. As well as drafts I’ve written and corrected after revisions.
- Recognize and practice key rhetorical terms and strategies when engaged in writing situations.
To demonstrate Learning Outcome #3 which shows that I have included rhetorical terms and strategies in my writing I will provide a screenshot of my Comparative Analysis Paper where I analyzed how each text appeals to self and other yet introducing different universal problems.
- Engage in the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes.
To demonstrate that I collaborated and engaged in the social aspects of the writing process, I will include a screenshot of feedback that I received on my Comparative analysis essay draft. I will then share a screenshot of feedback that I gave to a classmate on their Comparative analysis essay draft.
- Understand and use print and digital technologies to address a range of audiences.
To demonstrate Learning Outcome #5, which is to understand and use print and digital technologies to address a range of audience, I will use the creation of this website through CUNY Academic Commons as evidence that I was capable to show my work through a digital portfolio. This digital portfolio will allow me to share my potential as a writer to any future instructors who may need it as reassurance of my skills. This as well makes it easy to share it to instructors and to anyone really.
- Locate research sources (including academic journal articles, magazine and newspaper articles) in the library’s databases or archives and on the Internet and evaluate them for credibility, accuracy, timeliness, and bias.
I have not met this learning outcome as I didn’t take advantage of the tools at my disposable. The reason for this is that I didn’t use any research sources through the school’s library’s databases or archives I only used the ones I found in my own vicinity at my own initiative. The only time I was able to use the library’s databases was during the library lecture for both fiqws 10108 and 10008. I also didn’t use outside sources because I didn’t feel the need to use them when it came to writing my essay papers.
- Compose texts that integrate your stance with appropriate sources using strategies such as summary, critical analysis, interpretation, synthesis, and argumentation.
To demonstrate Learning Outcome #7, which is to compose texts that integrate your stance with appropriate sources using strategies such as summary, critical analysis, interpretation, synthesis, and argumentation, I will include a screenshot of a paragraph in my Comparative Analysis Paper where I analyzed Signs Preceding The End Of The World, Citizen, and Excess – The Factory. In my analysis I deducted a common theme included in each text and yet each text held a significant problem that held its own persuasive stance in how to commence change beginning with awareness of it.
- Practice systematic application of citation conventions.
I don’t think I was able to accomplish this learning outcome. I of course included quotations and in-text citations in my writing but I didn’t structure the essay in accordance to the MLA format. So I have not completely accomplished what was required and perhaps didn’t receive a grade in my essays where it hit every criteria. Regardless, I understand MLA format and would be able to apply it as required.
Comparative Analysis Paper
A common structure we seek to dismantle in life as in many pieces of literature demonstrate is the concept of society as a whole, a concept that rules over us and soon becomes us when we decide to follow its teachings. The poetic novel Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine discusses the extensive lengths of institutionalized racism in America and how it is perpetuated by society on a daily basis. Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera also shares the recurring theme of racism in America and how as a society it allows free reign to be racist to immigrants. While in Excess— The factory by Leslie Kaplan it holds its recurring theme of being displeased in a society but it also speaks on a different objective and that being a capitalist society that only seeks profit with no compensation for its people. Though these texts all face a common enemy each text upholds their ideas through different tones which translate in their usage of words and how cohesively they create a continuing mood.
All three texts share a similar anguish of sorts in regards to society and the discomfort of living in it when its concern isn’t humanity in itself. In Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera we are presented with Makina, a woman traveling to America to seek out her brother who gets into an altercation with a cop on arrival. “You think you can just come here and put your feet up without earning it, said the cop. Well I got news for you: patriots like me are on the lookout and we’re going to teach you some manners” (Herrera, 150). A cop stops a couple of mexican men along with Makina and he commences to torment them and taunt them. Self and the other is so visible in the line drawn between the cop and the lineup of mexican men and Makina. The cop representing America the other and Makina and the men being the isolated marginalized group whose sense of self only matters then in that moment. Their sense of self is substantial only in population, they seem to only matter when put against the “standard” group that is favored which is the privileged stereotypical white person of America. “I told you to write, not look at me, you piece of shit. Keep your eyes on the paper and write why you think you’re up the creek, why you think your ass is in the hands of this patriotic officer” (Herrera, 151-152). The cop racially profiled them all and assumed they were below him because they didn’t know english but Makina steps in and surprises the cop when she is able to write in english. The cops superiority clearly comes from a racist view of upholding white people to a higher standard than other people.
In Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine it also combats the issues of racism in a society that loudly endorses it through its racial aggressions. It fights the internal battle of existing and that alone waging a war between themselves and the other being society who constantly tears them down. Rankine’s novel offers insight to the reality of being a minority and coexisting in a community built on seeking the comfortability of everyone but them. “When the door finally opens, the woman standing there yells, at the top of her lungs, Get away from my house! What are you doing in my yard?” (Rankine, 32). The narrator has kept an active relationship with her new therapist through the phone, the relationship derails when meeting in person since the therapist is incapable of drawing anything but racist assumptions. The therapists switch in persona once met with the realization that her patient is a person of color is instantaneous the depiction of her prejudice against them. “On your way home your phone rings. Your neighbor tells you he is standing at his window watching a menacing black guy casing both your homes” (Rankine, 27). Turns out the narrator’s friend was just talking on the phone because he was babysitting for her, it holds a racist connotation due to the neighbors correlating being black to being inherently violent without provocation. All these racist stigmas are perpetrated by society and infiltrated into it and it influences people to be inherently racist as a normality or way of life.
Excess— The factory by Leslie Kaplan shines light on the extremely bad conditions of working in a factory where your self of identity is stripped away until you are just a working machine. You exist for the other that being a profitable capitalist society and your sense of self deteriorates the longer you spend confined to a life overcome by work. “The room is a room. You pay rent. You live, you die, each instant” (Kaplan, 41). It sums up the meaning of their life, the way of their life and how clearly miserable the people at the factory find it but feel as though it’s inevitable for them.The passage indulges us in the reality of having no splendors to life, the factory is solely working and living off only the bare necessities. “You are in the factory, you go on. You unfold, you advance. You move your thoughts a little” (kaplan, 27). The usage of you is very strategic and aids the reader in understanding how much of an influence the factory is, it has a sense of doing this and not questioning it. The narrator has developed this sense of selflessness to the job where her needs aren’t even in question. It’s primarily the job before the individual and you only progress more violently into this cycle and you disregard yourself completely to the point of no return. The factory which represents society symbolically has a grasp on the life of its employees. They seek profit only for them and off them, profit outside work doesn’t exist.
All three texts are very commonly aligned in their resentment toward society and its deplorable standards and expectations but they are singularly different in their motives and emotional depiction when discussing the issues. Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine criticizes society for its racism and makes people understand the pain of being black in a predominately white society. In Signs Preceding the End of the World it channels the problem of racism as well but now in the perspective of immigrants coming to America and how dehumanized they are. In Excess— the Factory by Leslie Kaplan it criticizes a capitalist society on its ideals and ways of life for its citizens. We yet again see the negative effects of society and how we are almost forever indebted to it. They follow a common theme but a difference between the three would have to be in the tone of the work and how the message is brought across. In Excess— the Factory the tone was very dull and lifeless as the writing held depressing undertones as it was probably intended that way to make the reader feel the environment that the factory exhibited. The tone in this particular text was necessary to the plot since the factory was a negative influence on the narrator and it was intended to demonstrate where all the bad was coming from. The same as in Citizen: An American Lyric the tone was eerie and held a lot of shock value in the sense of how easily you can partake in a tone deaf racist conversation and how easy racist comments are dropped. It held a depressing tone as there was grief and sadness behind every experience. It is meant to come across kind of cold and devoid of emotions as every experience was dehumanizing when you base the treatment of a person on the color of their skin alone. The significant difference between the three texts had to do with Signs Preceding the End of the World as it was a story full of hardships and yet still told in an uplifting manner. It was a hard experience for many, such as migrating to a different country and telling it in an empowering way by the characters nonchalant to it all. This book was very in itself because the author managed to make the characters’ voices truly heard and so make their experience very unique. The huge contrast from a grief stricken perspective from the other books to this very positive change in tone given their situation was refreshing and individualized it all. As well as allowing the reader this new perspective and way of seeing such a journey as well as how the character handled the prejudice with strength and never backing down.
Together all the works share in common the weight of society on its people and how distinct everyone’s experience under it may be. The common theme of racism and a society that hinders its people by its unjustified standards and expectations. However they all connect to this idea of the self which they grapple with within themselves. As well as the constant bickering of their self identity and discovery at the hands of the other which only tears them apart and dictates them. The other being society and its culture and how it can infiltrate every aspect of your being and how it affects your existence alone. Each text comes together to fit a separate aspect of the dilemma of existing in a society and its many problems and yet find a way to shine light on many different undermined parts in society as well.
Comparative Analysis Paper
A common structure we seek to dismantle in life as in many pieces of literature demonstrate is the concept of society as a whole, a concept that rules over us and soon becomes us when we decide to follow its teachings. The poetic novel Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine discusses the extensive lengths of institutionalized racism in America and how it is perpetuated by society on a daily basis. Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera also shares the recurring theme of racism in America and how as a society it allows free reign to be racist to immigrants. While in Excess— The factory by Leslie Kaplan it holds its recurring theme of being displeased in a society but it also speaks on a different objective and that being a capitalist society that only seeks profit with no compensation for its people. Though these texts all face a common enemy each text upholds their ideas through different tones which translate in their usage of words and how cohesively they create a continuing mood.
All three texts share a similar anguish of sorts in regards to society and the discomfort of living in it when its concern isn’t humanity in itself. In Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera we are presented with Makina, a woman traveling to America to seek out her brother who gets into an altercation with a cop on arrival. “You think you can just come here and put your feet up without earning it, said the cop. Well I got news for you: patriots like me are on the lookout and we’re going to teach you some manners” (Herrera, 150). A cop stops a couple of mexican men along with Makina and he commences to torment them and taunt them. Self and the other is so visible in the line drawn between the cop and the lineup of mexican men and Makina. The cop representing America the other and Makina and the men being the isolated marginalized group whose sense of self only matters then in that moment. Their sense of self is substantial only in population, they seem to only matter when put against the “standard” group that is favored which is the privileged stereotypical white person of America. “I told you to write, not look at me, you piece of shit. Keep your eyes on the paper and write why you think you’re up the creek, why you think your ass is in the hands of this patriotic officer” (Herrera, 151-152). The cop racially profiled them all and assumed they were below him because they didn’t know english but Makina steps in and surprises the cop when she is able to write in english. The cops superiority clearly comes from a racist view of upholding white people to a higher standard than other people.
In Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine it also combats the issues of racism in a society that loudly endorses it through its racial aggressions. It fights the internal battle of existing and that alone waging a war between themselves and the other being society who constantly tears them down. Rankine’s novel offers insight to the reality of being a minority and coexisting in a community built on seeking the comfortability of everyone but them. “When the door finally opens, the woman standing there yells, at the top of her lungs, Get away from my house! What are you doing in my yard?” (Rankine, 32). The narrator has kept an active relationship with her new therapist through the phone, the relationship derails when meeting in person since the therapist is incapable of drawing anything but racist assumptions. The therapists switch in persona once met with the realization that her patient is a person of color is instantaneous the depiction of her prejudice against them. “On your way home your phone rings. Your neighbor tells you he is standing at his window watching a menacing black guy casing both your homes” (Rankine, 27). Turns out the narrator’s friend was just talking on the phone because he was babysitting for her, it holds a racist connotation due to the neighbors correlating being black to being inherently violent without provocation. All these racist stigmas are perpetrated by society and infiltrated into it and it influences people to be inherently racist as a normality or way of life.
Excess— The factory by Leslie Kaplan shines light on the extremely bad conditions of working in a factory where your self of identity is stripped away until you are just a working machine. You exist for the other that being a profitable capitalist society and your sense of self deteriorates the longer you spend confined to a life overcome by work. “The room is a room. You pay rent. You live, you die, each instant” (Kaplan, 41). It sums up the meaning of their life, the way of their life and how clearly miserable the people at the factory find it but feel as though it’s inevitable for them.The passage indulges us in the reality of having no splendors to life, the factory is solely working and living off only the bare necessities. “You are in the factory, you go on. You unfold, you advance. You move your thoughts a little” (kaplan, 27). The usage of you is very strategic and aids the reader in understanding how much of an influence the factory is, it has a sense of doing this and not questioning it. The narrator has developed this sense of selflessness to the job where her needs aren’t even in question. It’s primarily the job before the individual and you only progress more violently into this cycle and you disregard yourself completely to the point of no return. The factory which represents society symbolically has a grasp on the life of its employees. They seek profit only for them and off them, profit outside work doesn’t exist.
All three texts are very commonly aligned in their resentment toward society and its deplorable standards and expectations but they are singularly different in their motives and emotional depiction when discussing the issues. Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine criticizes society for its racism and makes people understand the pain of being black in a predominately white society. In Signs Preceding the End of the World it channels the problem of racism as well but now in the perspective of immigrants coming to America and how dehumanized they are. In Excess— the Factory by Leslie Kaplan it criticizes a capitalist society on its ideals and ways of life for its citizens. We yet again see the negative effects of society and how we are almost forever indebted to it. They follow a common theme but a difference between the three would have to be in the tone of the work and how the message is brought across. In Excess— the Factory the tone was very dull and lifeless as the writing held depressing undertones as it was probably intended that way to make the reader feel the environment that the factory exhibited. The tone in this particular text was necessary to the plot since the factory was a negative influence on the narrator and it was intended to demonstrate where all the bad was coming from. The same as in Citizen: An American Lyric the tone was eerie and held a lot of shock value in the sense of how easily you can partake in a tone deaf racist conversation and how easy racist comments are dropped. It held a depressing tone as there was grief and sadness behind every experience. It is meant to come across kind of cold and devoid of emotions as every experience was dehumanizing when you base the treatment of a person on the color of their skin alone. The significant difference between the three texts had to do with Signs Preceding the End of the World as it was a story full of hardships and yet still told in an uplifting manner. It was a hard experience for many, such as migrating to a different country and telling it in an empowering way by the characters nonchalant to it all. This book was very in itself because the author managed to make the characters’ voices truly heard and so make their experience very unique. The huge contrast from a grief stricken perspective from the other books to this very positive change in tone given their situation was refreshing and individualized it all. As well as allowing the reader this new perspective and way of seeing such a journey as well as how the character handled the prejudice with strength and never backing down.
Together all the works share in common the weight of society on its people and how distinct everyone’s experience under it may be. The common theme of racism and a society that hinders its people by its unjustified standards and expectations. However they all connect to this idea of the self which they grapple with within themselves. As well as the constant bickering of their self identity and discovery at the hands of the other which only tears them apart and dictates them. The other being society and its culture and how it can infiltrate every aspect of your being and how it affects your existence alone. Each text comes together to fit a separate aspect of the dilemma of existing in a society and its many problems and yet find a way to shine light on many different undermined parts in society as well.
Self and Other Howl Close Reading Paper
Each and every one of us is born into a structural world full of rules and regulations that we often fail to question. Our own existence relies on our obedience, our submissiveness to follow without doubting its validity or challenging it. Howl by Allen Ginsberg combats conformity, the underdogs, the people overlooked in a society hellbent on “perfectionism” a concept made by us yet unrealistic to obtain. Ginsberg carries all connecting themes of isolation, alienation, loneliness, and conformism. Where the greatest minds are the ones living outside the box, whose whole existence is in discordance with the general world. It speaks of a corrupt symptom, corrupt laws and government, full of judgment and realism. It connects to the concept of “self” being the you who isn’t perceived by anyone but yourself which is hindered by the “other” being society who is in disapproval to who you are independently. Ginsberg’s use of words and tone adequately enhances the themes in relation to being a reject through his experiences of being one himself.
Throughout the poem Ginsberg expresses an inkling of alienation highlighting its importance throughout the poem as a recurring theme. Alienation plays a vital role in the dictation of how society views an individual that doesn’t fit into any of its criterias or conforms to its close minded narrative of a member in society. “Who cut their wrists three times successively unsuccessfully, gave up and were forced to open antique stores where they thought they were growing old and cried,” (Ginsberg, section 1, line 55). This just touches upon life being alienating and a disservice to those in pain who seek a quick end to their suffering. It proves how alienating it was for suicidal individuals, who attempted to cut their own life short but failed. These individuals must incorporate back into society with no choice of their own and only met with criticism and judgment. People with mental illnesses in the 50s were treated horrid and it wasn’t the treatments alone that were inhumane to them. “Who burned cigarette holes in their arms protesting the narcotic tobacco haze of Capitalism,” (Ginsberg, section 1, line 31). Smoking was glorified in the 50s and Ginsberg wasn’t adverse to the reality of it, the well constructed empires meant to feed off addiction. It’s the irony in that statement though, how society implements it for their benefit and yet shun people out who partake in it too much. Which creates a clear line between addicts and “redeemable” members of society, alienating people more than ever.
There was a clearly drawn line between society and the people they continuously reject. Ginsberg being a part of the people who were shunned put emphasis on the theme of isolation. “I’m with you in Rockland where you scream in a straightjacket that you’re losing the game of the actual pingpong of the abyss (Ginsberg, section 3, lines 21-23). This section of the poem was written for Ginsberg’s friend, Carl Solomon, who he met at a psychiatric center. Mental illness patients were the most isolated people of society just for their illnesses alone as well as the practices used on them. Ginsberg describes here a method of confinement where they wrap you up so you can’t use your arms. It describes Sololmon losing the fight, growing weak against the restraints he’s trying to break free of. It must be invalidating to be told your illness makes you different from the rest, to doubt your existence must alienate you to the point of isolation. “I’m with you in Rockland where we are great writers on the same dreadful typewriter” (Ginsberg, section 3, lines 11-12). The comparison between friends indicates that the greatest minds of this generation generally face the same struggles, struggles that derive from society. They are these great writers living the same dissatisfied lives, writing about the same things yet living the same repeated life they wish to abandon. It’s fighting for the same thing yet seeing no results, combating the alienation and isolation yet continuously wallowing in it. The greatest minds think alike because they can sympathize with each other unlike society.
Ginsberg leaves many underlying hints throughout the poem, a theme easily deciphered from this is the theme of desertion and loneliness. Being an outcast in society has got to be the most diserting feeling, being abandoned by people you’ve been taught to seek their acceptance and forever long and live with the need of it. “Who lounged hungry and lonesome through Houston seeking jazz or sex or soup” (Ginsberg, section 1, line 28). Every act mentioned in that line is an act of escapism, a way to momentarily feel that fictitious warmth that people who are outcasts can’t find in people. Sex and soup can be both comforting in the way of how you feel when you’re eating soup or sharing intimacy with another person, it can be alievating to ones loneliness. “Who broke down crying in white gymnasiums naked and trembling before the machinery of other skeletons,” (Ginsberg, section 1, line 33). This description of the place insinuates a medical institution from Ginsberg’s previous hints of it and his disapproval of the methods used for mental illnesses. Being forced to undertake such procedures aside from them being excruciating is so painfully lonely. You are left to be dealt with and at peoples disposal and I could imagine it being like a death sentence. Ginsberg imploring that people would tremble before the machinery of other skeletons, it could be what was used to perform those treatments. Which is haunted by thousands of deaths and it’s the only thing you can think of while looking at it—an inevitable doom.
The categories of “self” and “other” refers to the idea of the individual being the “self” and in this case the “other” being society. The “other” pertains itself with morality and its own social constructs and its expectations for what they deem suitable members of society. People sought to be their truest “self” while the “other” tried hard to oppress them, to force them to conform to the status quo. Ginsberg portrays this inner turmoil of fighting to have freedom, to detach themselves from the norm while society punishes them the farther they breach.“Who let themselves be fucked in the ass by saintly motorcyclists, and screamed with joy,” (Ginsberg, section 1, line 36). The acts of homosexuality were condemend in the 50s, the individuality to have such differing sexual persuits at the time rebels against the “other” while enforcing who they are outside of society. The erasure of the established romantic relationships when expressing your sexuality freely allows another perception of yourself not often seen by society but endorsed by your own self. “Who bit detectives in the neck and shrieked with delight in police cars for committing no crime but their own wild cooking pederasty and intoxication” (Ginsberg, section 1, line 34). They are seen as outsiders for going against the law and government, for rebelling against the abuse of power they would be deemed as not belonging for not conforming. The irony in the crime is that they did it to get caught, they enjoy the repercussions, they are protesting against the law with their indifference to getting arrested. Ginsberg shows peoples “self” the part of someone society has not seen, the part of you that only you can perceive as you venture away from the common group. Society detests individuality and being yourself and society as an “other” tries to detain your rebellion against them which is one with who you actually are.
Howl by Allen Ginsberg portrays the existence of an outsider feeling so out of body in the world he was dealt with, the themes circulating it elaborate on it. Ginsberg’s poem is so prevalent because it’s still so relevant to the world we live in now, of course we’ve grown to be more progessive thinking but prejudice is still very much alive. This poem was meant to make us question, to make us see both sides of all things and how everything is more than surface level deep. We live in a flawed society where flaws are deemed as dishonorable when it’s human nature to be flawed and “perfection” is a societal made concept that ceases to exist. It’s so important to be aware, to be conscious of lies made into reality just because we’ve grown comfortable with everything but the truth. Ginsberg wanted to give importance to our valuable mindful freedom, how despite our lack of power in places that matter we will always have our minds to take control of. Knowledge is power and if you choose to stay neglectful and ignorant you might as well be a submissive slave to the system but you’re not because freedom will always exist as long as your mind is free from deception.
Comparative Analysis Paper
A common structure we seek to dismantle in life as in many pieces of literature demonstrate is the concept of society as a whole, a concept that rules over us and soon becomes us when we decide to follow its teachings. The poetic novel Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine discusses the extensive lengths of institutionalized racism in America and how it is perpetuated by society on a daily basis. Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera also shares the recurring theme of racism in America and how as a society it allows free reign to be racist to immigrants. While in Excess— The factory by Leslie Kaplan it holds its recurring theme of being displeased in a society but it also speaks on a different objective and that being a capitalist society that only seeks profit with no compensation for its people. Though these texts all face a common enemy each text upholds their ideas through different tones which translate in their usage of words and how cohesively they create a continuing mood.
All three texts share a similar anguish of sorts in regards to society and the discomfort of living in it when its concern isn’t humanity in itself. In Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera we are presented with Makina, a woman traveling to America to seek out her brother who gets into an altercation with a cop on arrival. “You think you can just come here and put your feet up without earning it, said the cop. Well I got news for you: patriots like me are on the lookout and we’re going to teach you some manners” (Herrera, 150). A cop stops a couple of mexican men along with Makina and he commences to torment them and taunt them. Self and the other is so visible in the line drawn between the cop and the lineup of mexican men and Makina. The cop representing America the other and Makina and the men being the isolated marginalized group whose sense of self only matters then in that moment. Their sense of self is substantial only in population, they seem to only matter when put against the “standard” group that is favored which is the privileged stereotypical white person of America. “I told you to write, not look at me, you piece of shit. Keep your eyes on the paper and write why you think you’re up the creek, why you think your ass is in the hands of this patriotic officer” (Herrera, 151-152). The cop racially profiled them all and assumed they were below him because they didn’t know english but Makina steps in and surprises the cop when she is able to write in english. The cops superiority clearly comes from a racist view of upholding white people to a higher standard than other people.
In Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine it also combats the issues of racism in a society that loudly endorses it through its racial aggressions. It fights the internal battle of existing and that alone waging a war between themselves and the other being society who constantly tears them down. Rankine’s novel offers insight to the reality of being a minority and coexisting in a community built on seeking the comfortability of everyone but them. “When the door finally opens, the woman standing there yells, at the top of her lungs, Get away from my house! What are you doing in my yard?” (Rankine, 32). The narrator has kept an active relationship with her new therapist through the phone, the relationship derails when meeting in person since the therapist is incapable of drawing anything but racist assumptions. The therapists switch in persona once met with the realization that her patient is a person of color is instantaneous the depiction of her prejudice against them. “On your way home your phone rings. Your neighbor tells you he is standing at his window watching a menacing black guy casing both your homes” (Rankine, 27). Turns out the narrator’s friend was just talking on the phone because he was babysitting for her, it holds a racist connotation due to the neighbors correlating being black to being inherently violent without provocation. All these racist stigmas are perpetrated by society and infiltrated into it and it influences people to be inherently racist as a normality or way of life.
Excess— The factory by Leslie Kaplan shines light on the extremely bad conditions of working in a factory where your self of identity is stripped away until you are just a working machine. You exist for the other that being a profitable capitalist society and your sense of self deteriorates the longer you spend confined to a life overcome by work. “The room is a room. You pay rent. You live, you die, each instant” (Kaplan, 41). It sums up the meaning of their life, the way of their life and how clearly miserable the people at the factory find it but feel as though it’s inevitable for them.The passage indulges us in the reality of having no splendors to life, the factory is solely working and living off only the bare necessities. “You are in the factory, you go on. You unfold, you advance. You move your thoughts a little” (kaplan, 27). The usage of you is very strategic and aids the reader in understanding how much of an influence the factory is, it has a sense of doing this and not questioning it. The narrator has developed this sense of selflessness to the job where her needs aren’t even in question. It’s primarily the job before the individual and you only progress more violently into this cycle and you disregard yourself completely to the point of no return. The factory which represents society symbolically has a grasp on the life of its employees. They seek profit only for them and off them, profit outside work doesn’t exist.
All three texts are very commonly aligned in their resentment toward society and its deplorable standards and expectations but they are singularly different in their motives and emotional depiction when discussing the issues. Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine criticizes society for its racism and makes people understand the pain of being black in a predominately white society. In Signs Preceding the End of the World it channels the problem of racism as well but now in the perspective of immigrants coming to America and how dehumanized they are. In Excess— the Factory by Leslie Kaplan it criticizes a capitalist society on its ideals and ways of life for its citizens. We yet again see the negative effects of society and how we are almost forever indebted to it. They follow a common theme but a difference between the three would have to be in the tone of the work and how the message is brought across. In Excess— the Factory the tone was very dull and lifeless as the writing held depressing undertones as it was probably intended that way to make the reader feel the environment that the factory exhibited. The tone in this particular text was necessary to the plot since the factory was a negative influence on the narrator and it was intended to demonstrate where all the bad was coming from. The same as in Citizen: An American Lyric the tone was eerie and held a lot of shock value in the sense of how easily you can partake in a tone deaf racist conversation and how easy racist comments are dropped. It held a depressing tone as there was grief and sadness behind every experience. It is meant to come across kind of cold and devoid of emotions as every experience was dehumanizing when you base the treatment of a person on the color of their skin alone. The significant difference between the three texts had to do with Signs Preceding the End of the World as it was a story full of hardships and yet still told in an uplifting manner. It was a hard experience for many, such as migrating to a different country and telling it in an empowering way by the characters nonchalant to it all. This book was very in itself because the author managed to make the characters’ voices truly heard and so make their experience very unique. The huge contrast from a grief stricken perspective from the other books to this very positive change in tone given their situation was refreshing and individualized it all. As well as allowing the reader this new perspective and way of seeing such a journey as well as how the character handled the prejudice with strength and never backing down.
Together all the works share in common the weight of society on its people and how distinct everyone’s experience under it may be. The common theme of racism and a society that hinders its people by its unjustified standards and expectations. However they all connect to this idea of the self which they grapple with within themselves. As well as the constant bickering of their self identity and discovery at the hands of the other which only tears them apart and dictates them. The other being society and its culture and how it can infiltrate every aspect of your being and how it affects your existence alone. Each text comes together to fit a separate aspect of the dilemma of existing in a society and its many problems and yet find a way to shine light on many different undermined parts in society as well.
Welcome
Hello! My name is Angela Castillo and this is my digital portfolio for my Composition of Individual & Society FIQWS class 10108.
